on Apr 30, 2020, Updated Aug 18, 2020 A good korma can seriously beat everything else, except butter chicken in my book but a good korma is also hard to make. I’ve had some really bad ones that are cloyingly sweet from too much sugar in the curry or just bland. Korma has an underlying sweetness to it, but not from a sweetner. It comes from onions that are cooked slowly till they gain colour and get mildly sweet in the process. Slightly hard work, but so so worth it.
Korma – what is it really?
Korma or kurma can refer to a range of curries in India and there are different ways to make it. It primarily refers to whitish-yellow gravies that have their base in onions, cashews and whole spices or garam masala. The level of heat can vary depending on how hot you like your curry. But they are mostly mildly sweet but like I said before – not from added sweeteners. And they are originally made with mutton or lamb, and are rich or ‘shahi’. Sometimes the ingredient list will also include saffron but we’ve decided to skip it today.
Slicing Onions for Korma
Good chicken korma needs a little patience. Because the base starts with browning onions slowly. This recipe asks for 4 large onions to be sliced. If that sounds like too much work, make this process faster by using a mandoline if you have one. The advantage is that you’ll get evenly sliced onions and its much faster than slicing them on your own.
Best cut of meat for Chicken Korma
I prefer using boneless skinless chicken thighs for chicken korma, because they remain tender and juicy by the time the curry is cooked. You can easily use bone-in chicken too, where the bones will again prevent the meat from drying out. This korma sauce or gravy is rich and delicious. And so fragrant. So so fragrant from all the whole spices. The whole spices are sauteed in ghee, which releases their natural oils and literally flavours the whole gravy. Ghee and not oil is used in this recipe, and I highly recommend sticking to it, if you can get your hands on it. It’s so worth it. Because ghee is added not just as a fat, but for its nutty flavour. Chicken Korma might seem like a little effort but trust me, it’s so worth it in the end. Make this a weekend meal which can be followed by a nap!
Serve this with
Soft Rotis if you want a lighter breadInstant Naan that’s ready in 30 minutes!Jeera Rice if you love basmatiCoconut Rice because they go so well together.
How to make Chicken Korma Recipe Video
